Full citation: Forest Peoples Programme, "Protection of the right to land, territory and natural resources in regional and international law in Africa: A Toolkit for NGOs in the Democratic Republic of Congo," (2013).

"This toolkit gathers together information on ten tools that have been successfully used by members of the International Land Coalition (ILC) to promote, protect and strengthen indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ land rights. It is intended to facilitate mutual learning based on the good practices of specific ILC members."

Attendees of the November 12th gathering on Promising Practices in Gender and Extractives were asked what key question or questions had come up during the day’s presentations and discussions, and what answers or approaches for finding answers they had.

In 2017 and 2018, Resource Equity, with support from the Ford Foundation, explored the idea that civil society organizations in Eastern Africa are uniquely positioned and qualified to enter into collaborative partnerships with private sector actors, communities, and governments to bring about socially responsible investments in extractive resources and land. With a particular emphasis on women, the project was aimed at exploring and articulating the potential for beneficial collaborations between CSOs and the private sector, to identify challenges to such collaborations, and to propose possible solutions to these barriers. This situation summary (LINK) describes the project and the results.

One of three Women, Land, and Mining Case Studies. These individual case studies, summarized together in a separate synthesis report, represent diverse geographies, different scales of mining, different political and cultural contexts, differing project funding sources, a range of stages in the mining lifecycle, and diverse project approaches. They each contain more detail than the overarching synthesis report.

One of three Women, Land, and Mining Case Studies. These individual case studies, summarized together in a separate synthesis report, represent diverse geographies, different scales of mining, different political and cultural contexts, differing project funding sources, a range of stages in the mining lifecycle, and diverse project approaches. They each contain more detail than the overarching synthesis report.

One of three Women, Land, and Mining Case Studies. These individual case studies, summarized together in a separate synthesis report, represent diverse geographies, different scales of mining, different political and cultural contexts, differing project funding sources, a range of stages in the mining lifecycle, and diverse project approaches. They each contain more detail than the overarching synthesis report.

Abstract

The importance of the charcoal sector is growing rapidly in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to providing an affordable energy source for residents in the continent's growing urban centers, the charcoal value chain offers a critical income source for millions of people. Despite recent studies suggesting that women are taking on an increasing role in charcoal value chains, data and analysis on the role of women and the influence of gendered power relations in the often male-coded charcoal value chain have remained limited. This literature review interrogates the gender dynamics of participation and benefits across charcoal value chains in Sub-Saharan Africa. We find significant support for women's participation throughout value chains, thereby contrasting conventional views of charcoal as a male activity. However, while dynamics change between different contexts, women's participation tends to be significantly higher in retail, while women tend to constitute a minority in other parts of the value chain – often joining the sector in the absence of alternative livelihood opportunities. The review also finds that gender differences exist across various nodes in terms of the scope, nature and outcomes of participation. While significant regional differences exist, our study finds that participation and outcomes tend to generally be influenced by gender differences and inequalities in: 1) access to and control over productive resources and income; 2) social and political capital, and; 3) gender roles and responsibilities. Importantly, other axes of social differentiation, such as generation, marital status, wealth and social class, often intersect with gender relations in influencing outcomes. In addition to structuring the extent, nature and outcomes of women and men's participation, we argue that gender roles and relations may significantly influence the efficiency and sustainability of the charcoal value chain. Based on our findings, we call for placing gender at the core – rather than periphery – of charcoal value chain studies, and propose a conceptual framework for incorporating gender analysis in future value chain studies in the charcoal sector.

Rooted in discriminatory gender norms and laws and shrouded in impunity, gender-based violence (GBV) occurs in all societies as a means of control, subjugation and exploitation that further reinforces gender inequality. This publication establishes that these patterns of gender-based abuse are observed across environmental contexts, affecting the security and well-being of nations, communities and individuals, and jeopardising meeting sustainable development goals (SDGs). While linkages between GBV and environmental issues are complex and multi-layered, these threats to human rights and healthy ecosystems are not insurmountable. This analysis reveals the complex and interlinking nature of GBV across three main contexts: access to and control of natural resources; environmental pressure and threats; and environmental action to defend and conserve ecosystems and resources. This publication aims to raise awareness and engage actors working in environmental and sustainable development, gender equality, and GBV policymaking and programming spheres to inform rights-based, gender-responsive approaches to environmental policy, programmes and projects.

Full citation: Kiptot, E. and Franzel, S. (2012). “Gender and agroforestry in Africa: A review of women's participation.” Agroforestry Systems, 84(1), 35-58. - This paper presents a review of agroforestry in Africa from a gender perspective. It examines women's participation relative to men and the challenges and successes they experience. The review shows that agroforestry has the potential to offer substantial benefits to women; however, their participation is low in enterprises that are considered men's domain, such as timber and high in enterprises that have little or no commercial value, such as collection of indigenous fruits and vegetables. Data on whether women are able to manage agroforestry practices as well as men are mixed, although it is clear that women do most of the work. In cases where they do not perform well, the reasons are mostly due to scarcity of resources. In marketing, women are confined to the lower end of the value chain (retailing), which limits their control over and returns from the productive process. In order to promote gender equity in agroforestry and to ensure that women benefit fully, the paper recommends various policy, technological and institutional interventions. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions - Annotated Bibliography]

Full citation: Odeny, M. (2013). “Improving Access to Land and Strengthening Women's land rights in Africa.” World Bank. - The need to improve access to land and strengthen women's land rights in Africa has elicited a lot of discussion with women's rights activists arguing for increased access and control over land and other productive resources. The paper examines inter-relations between women’s land rights and socio- economic development, peace and security and environmental sustainability in Africa. It goes on to highlight the impacts of the discrimination against women with regard to access, control and ownership of land and identifies promising practices related to strengthening women’s land rights with possible benchmarks and indicators to track progress made in strengthening women’s land rights in the context of the implementation of the AU Declaration on land. It concludes by providing concrete recommendations on how to further promote dialogue, advocacy, partnerships and capacity development in support of women’s land rights in Africa. This paper is as a result of a study commissioned by AU-ECA-AfDB Land Policy Initiative (LPI) which is implementing a 5- year Strategic Plan and Roadmap to assist member states in the implementation of the AU Declaration on land issues and challenges in Africa, in accordance with the Framework and Guidelines on Land Policy in Africa in order to achieve socio-economic development, peace and security, and environmental sustainability. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions - Annotated Bibliography]

Full citation: Padmanabhan, M.A. (2005). “Institutional Innovations Towards Gender Equity in Agrobiodiversity Management: Collective Action in Kerala, South India.” - This study compares two institutions of collective biodiversity management in Kerala, India. The traditional mechanisms of a scheduled tribe, the Kurichyas, are contrasted with the new institution of the People’s Biodiversity Register (PBR) under the local form of governance, the panchayat. Collective action is analysed for the core variables of reputation, trust and reciprocity. In the tribal institutions, traditional seed exchange rests on reputation and gender complementarities, which are eroded by a diminishing degree of trust and dissolving property rights for women and weakened by failing norms of reciprocity. The new institution of PBR threatens tribal women’s reputations and their knowledge by reducing it to a bureaucratic register, the disembodiment of knowledge into information reduces trust and unpredictable returns diminish reciprocity. A massive public investment in strengthening women’s capabilities for a transformation from conservers and users to advocates, managers and decision-makers regarding biodiversity might halt the loss. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions - Annotated Bibliography]

Full citation: Quisumbing, A. and Kumar, N. (2014). “Land Rights Knowledge and Conservation in Rural Ethiopia: Mind the Gender Gap.” IFPRI. - This paper examines the community-based land certification effort in Ethiopia, an early successful attempt to implement a cost-effective and transparent land-registration process. It found that while the difference between male- and female-headed households’ proportions of land registered is small, there is a “glaring” gap in men’s and women’s knowledge of land rights and that educating women had significant impact on soil conservation. Using the 2009 round of the Ethiopian Rural Household Survey, the paper examines the medium-term impact of the land registration on investment behavior by households, particularly the adoption of soil conservation techniques and tree planting. The paper suggests that closing the knowledge gap in legal rights is an important step to improving adoption of soil conservation technologies and sustainable farming techniques. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions - Annotated Bibliography]

Full citation: Sun, Y., Mwangi, E. & Meinzen-Dick, R. (2011). “Is gender an important factor influencing user groups’ property rights and forestry governance? Empirical analysis from East Africa and Latin America.” International Forestry Review, Vol. 13 (2), pp. 205 – 219. - This article explores the effects that gender composition of forest user groups has on property rights and forestry governance, based on data from 290 forest user groups in Kenya, Uganda, Bolivia, and Mexico. It finds that while female-dominated groups tend to have more property rights to trees and bushes, and collect more fuelwood but less timber than do male-dominated or gender-balanced groups, gender-balanced groups participate more in forestry decision-making and are more likely to have exclusive use of forests. Female-dominated groups participate less, sanction less, and exclude less. It’s therefore important to gain better understanding of the dynamics of mixed-gender groups, including the nature and types of cooperation among males and females when determining what kind of group-based intervention to pursue. [Threats to Women’s Land Tenure Security and Effectiveness of Interventions - Annotated Bibliography]